Half term Homework
Answer
the following exam question in 50 minutes. Discuss the
audience appeal of your three main texts. [30] This will be graded with written
feedback.
•Ensure you include a intro which
defines all 3 texts, their proffered audience and provide context.
•Identify 3 points for each text
which discuss appeal/targeting. Link each point to particular types of
audiences and discuss gratifications.
•Link points to narrative where
possible.
•Ensure
a simplistic and logical
structure. Use terminology. Discuss all 3 texts. Use your notes. The A
grade exam response section of the blog (see labels) The WJEC revision
guide.
•Hand in - Tuesday 25th February, 2:25, entry of lesson.
My three chosen texts follow many different conventions which help to attract their targets audiences however each of my chosen texts do this in separate ways which causes them to appeal to alternate demographics.
My three chosen texts are the high-brow AMC Drama Madmen, set in in 60s America, the 2004-2010 Fantasy Drama series Lost and the 2013 BBC post world war 1 series Peaky Blinders.
Throughout Lost there is a score written for the series which helps to appeal to a more mainstream passive audience. The Music was written for the show by Michael Giacchino. This use of a non-diegetic sound helps to ensure that the audience knows how to react to certain scenes and events easily identifing the preferred reading of the text, resulting in them being gratified. An example of where this is apparent is in Series 1 Episode 2 (Pilot Part 2) where the polar bear is running towards the group of survivors. This helps to enhance the mood and quicken the pace causing the the audience to be anticipating what will happen next. Furthermore the use of scored music also allows the audience to become more passive.
Lost has an Ensemble cast which helps to appeal to a more diverse audience by representing different ideologies through individual characters. If there is a character on the show that certain audiences can relate to then there is more chance of them watching the show than if they feel disconnected from the cast. In Lost we have characters from various nationalities and both strong male and female roles, this helps to establish a links with a more diverse audience. It also enables the show to do full episodes on separate characters drawing the series out longer.
Lost uses a series of enigma codes to keep the audience engaged throughout the series. one example of where an enigma code is used in Series 1 Episode 2 is where the handcuffs are discovered on the island. This occurs directly before an advert break so that the audience will still be engaged and not switch off in the break. Although this was effective throughout the Lost series often the questions surrounding the enigma codes would go unanswered for too long, causing much of Lost's audience to run out of patience and give up watching the show.
Madmen is a niche text which is said to be host to a cult audience. This is due to the fact that the show does not necessarily appeal to a vast mainstream audience because it often challenges the audience to be active rather than passive and also tries to be more artistic than the majority of TV series. Madmen does not often contain much non diegetic sound which gives the show a slower pace than a more mainstream text such as Lost. For example in the closing scene of Series 2 Episode 1 The protagonist Don Draper is reading poetry from a book by Frank O Hara, the editing is at a slow pace and many of the shots are still or barely move. A passive audience would often not enjoy this cinematic style, however this does appeal to a more active niche audience and to the cult fans of the show especially as many of them purchased the book after this Episode was aired.
Madmen also tries to offer a real sense of historical accuracy with the Mise en scene such as the clothes worn by the cast and the offices (drinks at work). Furthermore Madmen portrays 1960s character roles such as the way that women are treated very poorly in comparison to men we can see this in Series 5 episode 11 were the character Joan is asked to sleep with an executive of Jaguar so that the company could secure a deal with them. This negative representation is partly what has narrowed Madmen's audience. Furthermore the show likes to put art before profits. one example of this is where AMC payed a huge amount of money to gain the rights to use a Beatles track in an episode sacrificing thousands of dollars.
The main character of Madmen is Don Draper who is not a typical protagonist in the way that he is often conflicted and unpredictable meaning that he does not adhere to the common expectations of a standard protagonist. This can make is difficult for a passive audience to connect with him or the show meaning that the target demographic for Madmen decreases. One example of where Don's character does not conform to being a typical protagonist is where he tries to control his wife by not allowing here to for fill her dream of being in a big theatre production.
Peaky Blinders has wide appeal and attracts a vast audience which consists of both passive and active members, it does this by gratifying viewers is multiple ways. One way that Peaky Blinders gratifies both an active and passive audience is through the use of both a fast and slow pace in editing. We can see this in the scene where Tommy is calming the horse in Episode 2 the pace at which the shot changes is fast at first but then slows to a shot which last quite a while.
One other way that Peaky Blinders is through the use of modern music in a period text. This helps to modernize the show and keep mainstream audiences gratified without losing the interest of a more active audience. One example of where this happens in the text is where the Peaky Blinders fight the Lea Brother at the beginning whilst Blue Veins by The Raconteurs plays.
Peaky Blinders is very artistic in the way that it is shot and often looks like it was film with a much bigger budget than it had because of the outstanding cinematography, this is an aspect which is not often seen in mainstream text however it is a big contributing factor to the shows popularity along side the narrative and the Post world war one themes/mise en scene.
